Fire at the Borgo, (16th Century)

Fire at the Borgo (detail)

One of the three great masters of the High Renaissance, Raphael Sanzio , along with Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci was to become one of the most influential artists in the course of art history.

Raphael got his start studying with the artist Perugino, then traveled to Florence where he came into contact with Michelangelo and Da Vinci , who were both working and all ready well established. From these men Raphael borrowed the realistic heroic human form (Michelangelo) and the solid pyramidal arrangement of figures (Da Vinci). When the young Raphael arrived in Florence both Michelangelo and Da Vinci's works were all ready hard to come by unless one was a member of the noble class or royalty. Raphael was happy to supply the citizens of Florence with art, and their demand for quality works helped him to develop a more unique and monumental style all his own.

Raphael is perhaps best known for his series of Madonnas created between the years of 1504 to 1508. In these paintings his precise rendering of the human form can truly be appreciated. His ability to portray rounded 3-dimensional forms on a flat 2- dimensional surface was unequaled at the time. The paint is blended beautifully, there's not a trace of brush strokes to be found, and his Madonnas have a truly ethereal quality to them. For these reasons Raphael is often called the "perfect painter".

Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to help decorate the Vatican and its various offices. There his works are displayed side by side with those of Michelangelo. While decorating one of the offices, the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael colmpleted one of his most famous pieces "The School of Athens."

In 1514 Raphael was made chief architect of St. Peter's and in 1515, commissioner of antiquities in Rome.

Raphael established himself as an intellectual and moved as such throughout Italy and Rome. Unfortunately his life was cut short by illness and he died at the age of 37.